


heart of glass

by bio_at



Series: Beautiful Years [3]
Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Actual Dating, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, archer gets to wear glasses for most of this fic HAVE FUN, but platonically, ill add more tags as we get around to it how about that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 11:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12747798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bio_at/pseuds/bio_at
Summary: archer learns to live in fuyuki once more; only this time, with the rest of the fuyuki servants, and all of the implications.





	heart of glass

**Author's Note:**

> this set in the hollow ataraxia universe, which means the same vague timeline shenanigans and wacky hijinks. and by that i mean anything i want goes, most notably of which is that the red-shrouded, white-haired counter guardian is considered one character who has experienced all the things.
> 
> intended as a pseudo-sequel to familiar blood, because my baby deserves happiness, but can be read separately. references to all three routes of fate/stay night, fate/hollow ataraxia, last episode, fate/zero, and fate/extra abound.
> 
> each chapter will be focusing on archer's relationship with one character; the full list and order is already planned out, and i can't wait for you all to see it!.... when i get around to writing them, haha.

In the months following her arrival from London, Rin makes a pointed effort to reconnect with Archer.

He tries to tell himself that this has nothing to do with the memory that keeps cropping up whenever they were within ten meters of each other; a memory of coming to stand beside her as the city was overrun by beasts. Irrevocable proof that, if the city ever came to an apocalypse, his first instinct was still to seek her out and fight by her side, red shroud around his shoulders.

It isn’t that he can pretend that Rin doesn’t have the same memory, either; it’s the kind of memory that pulls at both of them, like the one from Ryuudou Temple, when the sun had risen behind him as he bid farewell to his Master at the end of a Grail War. Wisps of that memory, as well as the fight, seem to hover around their shared mental space, a perpetual reminder of what they are, regardless of timelines, even the one in which he disappears as her Servant.

Timelines are weird. He suspects shenanigans, and he doesn’t bother trying to understand them.

He doesn’t have as much heart trying to dissuade Rin from reaching out to him a few times a week either, insisting on eating together or patrolling or any other excuse she could think of to spend time with him. Archer usually agrees, his schedule permitting; generally trying to settle into adult life in Fuyuki is much harder than it sounds.

He runs into the other ex-participants of the Grail War around Fuyuki from time to time: Caster at the supermarket, struggling to pick between two brands of cooking oil, Caren and child Gilgamesh, walking quietly on the far side of the park, and Lancer, of course, all around town, if not actively seeking out Archer to pester him.

Almost instinctively, he gives the Emiya household and its residents a wide berth. It was weird enough settling into life as a human once more, but to do so in the same city where another version of himself existed— well, it was weird enough. He’s fairly sure he isn’t missed, either, what with the one time Shirou spots him across the market and how his expression had immediately soured.

(Rider had pulled him out of sight, looking over and spotting him, throwing a mild look his way before walking away with Shirou.)

Rin, being a resident of the Emiya household herself, is the obvious exception. There’s an unspoken ceasefire between the two of them about the topic; although, being mentally linked and constantly skirting around the edge of the topic when they talk, they each have a good grasp on what the other has to say.

Basically, they don’t agree.

Neither of them budges on the topic, though, until one of their lunches, and Archer doesn’t really see it coming.

"I am going to buy you a pair of glasses," Rin announces out of nowhere, as they're sitting down to eat in Ahnenerbe. She’s looking at him for his response, but he looks right back at her, waiting for the other shoe to drop. In hindsight, he should’ve known this was it.

When none comes, he says, "Alright, I'll bite. And why would you do that...?"

"You and Emiya-kun look too much alike," she says, smiling at the way his face twists. "I mean, admittedly, it took me a while to even notice, but once you see the resemblance it becomes hard to ignore?"

“This feels like a thinly veiled excuse to buy me things,” Archer points out, not looking up from the menu, the white button-down he was currently wearing suddenly feeling twice as heavy.

Rin laughs, and despite himself, Archer smiles.

\--

Twenty minutes later, Rin holds on to his arm as they walk through the shopping district, so tightly that a gaggle of teenage girls he sees walking around town sometimes (while being completely obvious regarding what they thought of him) glares daggers at her.

"Rin," he sighs. "Do you really not trust me to stay with you?"

"I do," she says cheerfully. "But you have to admit, you are _great_ arm candy."

“I should file for sexual harassment,” Archer deadpans, as they turn into the glasses shop, pushing the door open with his free hand.

“What, with Angra?” Rin follows in after him, laughing. finally letting go to approach the clerk. “Go ahead, I’m sure he’ll love that.”

He looks around at the shop; the walls were covered in small display shelves of frames in various colors and shapes, ranging from thin rectangular frames to dorky-looking circular frames.

When he looks back at Rin, she's grinning broadly at him, elbows on the counter, across the stunned-looking sales clerk openly staring at him.

 _Come here, I think he likes you,_  Rin informs him gleefully.

 _Noted_ , he replies, walking over.

"I'm not exactly sure what kind of frame would suit his face," Rin says sweetly to the clerk. Archer silently prays for him. "What would you recommend?"

The process of picking out a pair of glasses for him takes way longer than it should have, Archer thinks, due to Rin needlessly flustering the sales clerk trying to help them. It doesn't help that he would sometimes be flustered by reasons Archer can't even determine, such as when he puts on the dorky-looking circular glasses he'd noticed earlier. For some reason, Rin bursts into laughter as well.

He settles on a similar pair, however: rectangular thick-framed black glasses. Something simple, and complemented the contrast of his hair and skin, or so Rin says. She pays for the glasses, and insists on having him wear it out of the store.

Rin slings her arm through his again as they leave, smiling all the while. "We're having dinner at the Emiyas'," she says, by way of explanation. He doesn't miss the way she says _we_. He's just about to open his mouth to complain, to say the bit he’s been saving for when they finally have this conversation, when Rin mutters, "You don't get to stay away, alright?" She says  it so quietly that he's only half sure that she says it out loud. "Things are different now, there's no more danger. You're family, as much as everyone else is."

He says nothing; only lets her sentimentality and longing wash over him. Well… he’s cornered now. The words wash away in his mind as they walk in silence for a while longer, her hand warm on his arm. They arrive at the intersection; he doesn't complain when Rin turns towards the Emiya house instead of the mansion.

"I've lost you once before," Rin says quietly. "I'm not going to let that happen again."

 _I've lost you twice before_ , he replies, unbidden. He glances warily at Rin, who looks away from him. But there's no hiding the twist in her heart, more evident through their bond from the direct physical contact. He wonders if that was what she wanted all along: to amplify their connection, so that he would feel her sincerity.

But amidst all her sadness there is also happiness, like a blade of grass peeking through barren land. A cautious happiness that he was here at all, instead of emotionally distancing himself from her, as he had done before she left for London. A careful optimism, as though the slightest move would scare him away.

What had he hoped to accomplish by distancing himself from her? Independence? He should have known, from the moment he realized that Rin had summoned him using the gem pendant he'd kept all his life as his vessel, that their paths were intertwined regardless of timeline. That it was stupid to try and distance himself from someone he shared a bond with, both magical and emotional.

He places a hand over Rin's, letting her feel everything, pointedly looking forward. Rin's head bumps into his arm, and she sobs once before he feels a wet patch on his sleeve.

"Please don't tell me you're wiping your face on my sleeve," he says quietly, projecting a handkerchief and handing it to her.

"I wasn't!" Rin grumbles, taking the handkerchief and wiping at her face with it.

"Well, when you're done not-crying," Archer says, as they come up on the Emiya household, the closest he’s been to the place since the Grail War. "We have a dinner to go to."

**Author's Note:**

> aaaand they lived happily ever after. right?
> 
> that's all i have finished for now, and the rest will probably come in about half a year from now, after i've graduated! [nervous laughter] thanks for reading! rest assured i have great plans for this story, and this series, hope you'll enjoy!


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